Life in the Middle
by kokonutsu
Summary: .Hiatus. From riches to rags, Kagome Higurashi attempts to adjust to her new settings. She meets strange people who have similar stories, but immersed in a world of poverty, violence, and deciet, can she survive?
1. Alleyway

**Alleyway**

"Hey Kagome, want to and come over to my house? No one's home and my bro's out at work, we could get comfy together." Inu Yasha placed his arms around Kagome, the new girl at school who showed up wearing a white tank and blue jeans. They didn't get much fresh meat up at their school, so, as part of the inauguration process, he was hitting on her, but so far, his wily ways weren't working.

She glared at him for a moment, shoved his hands off her shoulders and walked off quickly in the opposite direction.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? I asked if you wanted to come over to my place." She continued to ignore him, and with her nose stuck up in the air, a surge of anger rushed through him.

"Hey, do you think you're better than me, just because you're from some nice family? I've been watching you the whole day and you know what you are? Nothing but a snobby-"

**Slap**

It was so unexpected that all he could do was watch as the black haired girl started to yell.

"What is wrong with _you_, and what's this about me being snobby? You don't even know me and you're already spewing all this nonsense?" Inu Yasha for once, was speechless. "And you can just dream on buster, because I would rather jump into a mud-hole then go to your house, **pig**." She left the scene in a huff and the numerous people around them on the street started laughing and hooting.

He cursed; she made a fool out of him, in broad daylight, in front of his friends! He swore revenge, that new girl; Kagome probably didn't know that he was the ringleader of the largest gang at school.

"Hey man, I saw what the new girl did to you, and man, did she look angry." A familiar face popped out from the crowd and slapped him on the back.

He didn't need to turn around to know who it was, "Jerk off Miroku, I should be the angry one here, I mean, who slaps people for no reason at all?"

A smile tugged at his lips, Miroku expected this to come from his best friend; Inu Yasha was often insensitive and said things without thinking. So, of course, he wouldn't know when he offended somebody, much less a girl. "Weren't you the one who insulted her?"

"How did you know? You weren't even here, or were you stalking us?" Inu Yasha eyed him suspiciously.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I never stalk people (snort) ok, fine, maybe there was this one girl, or two, but you were loud enough for everybody down the street to hear. Aren't you even worried that someone will tell Kikyo that you've been hitting on the newcomer?"

"Screw her man; she gets jealous for no reason, s'not my fault she's like that. Let's just get out of here, I hate being in the city, everything smells like... dog shit."

"Are you sure it's not you?" Miroku teased lightly, an argument usually got his friend out of a funk, and he could tell that Inu Yasha's pride was a little hurt from that slap. Even Kikyo, in all her tantrums had ever hit him. Miroku felt sorry for the new girl, she was going to be so screwed messing with the idiot.

* * *

'I cannot believe such an asshole existed. I knew transferring to a new school was a bad idea, even worse; I have to walk home by myself. I miss my car.'

Such were the fleeting thoughts of a 15 year old teenager, namely, Kagome Higurashi. Just as Kagome passed by the once beautiful neighborhood where she lived in and saw that her old house had a 'Sold' sign on embedded in the lawn. 'So it's taken already' Her dad had only put the house up for sale a week ago when he went bankrupt, and then they sold the property for nearly half the price they got it for and made do with it living in an apartment complex on the other side of town.

'Wonder who lives there now, hope they won't ruin the birdbath me and dad made.' She thought wistfully.

"Excuse Me," said an elderly person behind her. She didn't even notice that she had been standing in front of her old home blocking the sidewalk for the past few minutes.

"I'm sorry" She mumbled, and moved over to let the old woman pass and resumed walking home.

On the bus, she got funny stares from some the funny smelling men. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself and wished the bus would go faster, she hated this, and she hated how people would look at her, it wasn't as if she were an alien, although she certainly felt like one right now.

Suddenly a hand reached around her shoulders and a fat greasy man smiled at her. She was about to tell him off when she suddenly felt the sharp object against her back.

"Get off the bus." The man whispered softly to her, his rancid breath almost gagging her.

"Now" He emphasized by pressing the knife against her back.

She got up with the person behind her but no one noticed what he was doing, she wanted to scream out but she knew that he would plunge the knife if she so much as uttered a word.

Her eyes pleaded for someone to notice, to do something, but she was met with turned backs and silent stares.

Thus, she got off the bus with another asshole in unfamiliar territory, home to Strip bars and ironically, the homeless.

He yanked her arm and dragged her deeper into the alleyway. She struggled and tried yelling for help but then the man clamped her mouth shut with his dirty hand.

In response, she bit him.

"You bitch!" He yelled slapping her with his other hand. She fell onto the floor tasting the blood in her mouth. She had no time to worry, everything counted on speed, and luck, Kagome prayed to every god she knew for a successful escape. Adrenaline ran its full course throughout her body, and her slim legs sprinted toward the mouth of the alleyway…

"Aw, shit." She mumbled as the bullet penetrated her otherwise white tank top.

All she could feel now was numbing pain coming from the right side of her body, 'and I was so close too.' It was only a few more feet, she could make it, but her disobedient legs were like jelly, and somewhere behind her echoed the triumphant guffaw of her captor. Maybe she could run later and kick him now, run-run or kick-kick? Kagome finally made up her mind, but unfortunately, she could no longer make sense of the world, and only incoherent words and images blurred her mind as she finally collapsed...into the pair of strong arms that caught her fall.


	2. Rescue

"Are you all right?" Her savior asked.

But all Kagome could see was a hazy plethora of silvery hair, and someone, someone she met today had the exact same hair color. She dazedly remembered some loudmouth who offended her…the asshole, the asshole guy! And of course, she never felt better in her life, what with a bullet in her body and lots of blood spilling out of her and all, yup, she sure felt swell. Her mouth opened to speak, but she thought better of insulting his intelligent question, after all, she didn't want him to dump her here.

"He, he has a gun" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, keeping awake was too hard, and Kagome slipped into unconsciousness. She was right however, the man in the back did indeed carry a gun, and he looked pretty angry.

"Hand the bitch over." The man commanded and his filthy hand jerked out, as a set of teeth marks gleamed red.

"Why should I?" He didn't like taking orders, never did in fact, and especially not from idiots. Scum like these always tried to kidnap young school girls to do who the hell knew what to them. He wasn't going to abandon her over just like that. This was his territory, and the asshole didn't even know it.

"It's none of your business what I do with her, she bit me and now she's gonna pay. Move out of the way or I'll shoot you too." Heh, maybe the little man was actually serious, he quickly reached into his coat pocket as the other gun came to meet him at eye point.

"So I guess you still don't know who I am, eh? I almost pity you." Grinning and revealing his unusually sharp teeth, he flung out his own weapon and shot the man in the leg.

The man howled in pathetic misery, "You bastard, you shot me! Now I'm really going to kill you!" But before the man could even aim a shot at him, he was right in front of his face, and had his gun pointed at his head.

"You bore me; do you want to die now?" His finger tightened on the trigger.

Realization dawned on the man's face as he looked closely at his captor.

"I I'm sorry, I didn't know, I didn't see you Mr. Sesshomaru, please let me go! I didn't mean what I said, forgive me!" The man sputtered and cried for mercy, it was actually amusing for half a second before it made him sick, but he wasn't fool enough to kill a guy in broad daylight. So he simply knocked the man out with the backside of his gun.

Kicking the dirty man in the side, he went over to check on the girl, turning her to her side, he noted that she had a pretty bad wound in her back. He dug through her backpack and found her wallet. However, there were only a few photographs and dollars in there, but nothing that revealed her identity. He gently picked her up, covering her with his own coat. He didn't know where she lived but he felt obligated to help her, she was, after all, in his territory, and he took care of the people in it. Well, usually…

Checking to see if the coast was clear, he ducked out of the dingy alleyway, and onto the streets.

The people they passed by never gave a thought to the unconscious girl; it was common enough in Shinjuku. He finally stopped to fumble for his keys, which were in his pant pockets, and opened the door to his car. He laid the girl down in the backseat, and as a second thought, spread his coat once more over her body.

He wanted that bullet out of her body fast; every passing second further endangered her life. So he stepped on the pedal and the car sped off leaving tire marks on the asphalt.

* * *

'Am I dead? I can't open my eyes.' Kagome was on her stomach and her face was flat on a sticky surface, which turned out to be the sofa.

'Funny', I don't remember dad buying a leather couch. But then again, maybe he was joking about the bankruptcy…She suddenly felt cold hands touch her shoulders, and was jerked wide awake.

Persian rug, chandelier, and a glass table, this was definitely **not** her home, they weren't even done moving in yet, but maybe she was still dreaming. But wait, her eyes were open, so that would mean that she just woke up in her dream. It was enough to baffle her mind if the stabbing pain in her back didn't distract her otherwise. She groaned.

"So, you're awake, but it would have been better if you were still unconscious" It took a while for Kagome to process the words, but when she did, she remembered what happened to her, and that was enough to finally jerk her to her senses.

"Who, who are you? Where's that guy, and where am I?" She desperately scanned the stranger for answers.

"I found you unconscious in that dark alleyway, remember? So I took you to my house, and now, I'm going to get the bullet out of you." He tried to smile reassuringly at her, but what probably resulted was a grimace, it had been too long since he last tried, perhaps he had forgotten…

"Well, thank you, but I think I'd rather be operated on by a doctor, or just go to the hospital for this sort of thing," She tried to move, but the splitting pain rendered her whimpering and gritting her teeth in agony.

"I can operate on you just as well as any doctor; I've already stopped the blood. Just trust me." He didn't know what else to say, so she would just have to believe him.

Incredible, she was supposed to leave her life to a complete stranger… She focused her eyes into those disturbingly cold pupils; he had no reason to lie to her, hell, what did she have to lose; besides her life, probably not much.

"Ok, fine, this wouldn't hurt, would it?" She asked tiredly, her eyes were failing her.

"Well…," Sesshomaru nearly chuckled; she was exactly like one of the patients at the hospital, a little girl named Rin. "This might hurt…a lot." He added finally, relishing her bewildered expression.

"Here, bite on this if the pain becomes unbearable" He handed her one of his handkerchiefs that were nearby. She took it, stuffed it in her mouth, and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Here comes the easy part," Sesshomaru murmured as the picked up his needle.

He faintly heard the girl mumble something through the cloth when he injected the anesthetic into her.

"_I hate needles…" _

She was faintly aware of someone tugging at her clothes, and the realization shocked her awake once more.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kagome asked shrilly.

"Look, I can't operate on you with your shirt on." He promptly answered.

"Fine, but no peaking" As Kagome felt scissors cutting away the material of her tank top, she felt very uncomfortable, not just because a stranger was undressing her and about to perform surgery on her, but because she knew her parents would never have been able to pay off the medical bills. She always had insurance until her father's scandals destroyed the company. Despite her earlier promise to herself, she felt her throat tighten and tears leak from her eyes.

Sesshomaru mistook this reaction as shame, and felt slightly guilty, but there wasn't anything he could do, so he resolved to quickly finish the operation and get her home somehow, so he tested her wound.

"OW!" She winced, more tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sesshomaru arched his eyebrows, If she thought that was painful, he didn't want to know how she would react later.

After examining the wound for a minute or two, he knew what to do and took out his scalpel, and prayed the anesthesia would hurry up and kick in.

* * *

The girl screamed, searching for the pervert who groped her butt, only to see bewildered onlookers staring at her.

"Ha, Miroku, you really know how to get out of a situation like that. Did you see the look on her face?" Inu Yasha slapped his friend on the back, congratulating him on his "good" work.

"Well, when you've had as much experience as I, maybe you can get away with it too." Miroku grinned slyly; so it worked, Inu Yasha was finally out of his earlier funk.

"I don't need to stoop as low as you to feel a girl up, I've got Kikyo and she let's me do anything I want to her." They were walking home together since the bus around this hour was usually crowded with people.

"But she won't sleep with you, will she?"

"I don't want to sleep with her anyway, she's only dating me because she wants to be Queen Bitch of the school, I know she's using me, and she probably thinks that I'm an idiot anyway…." Inu Yasha quietly noted.

"If you know she's using you, then why are you still going out with her?" Miroku, like everyone else who knew of Inu Yasha's relationship with Kikyo, couldn't understand how such opposites could ever stand each other.

"Because…she's…," Inu Yasha trailed, his expression softened and his eyes glazed over.

Miroku was actually surprised that his friend was serious about that girl, often times Inu Yasha would joke about how he hated Kikyo, and then sometimes he would dramatically exclaim his love for her. But Miroku never doubted that Kikyo would leave his friend for a more powerful man one day. He was sure Inu Yasha knew too, but just didn't want to admit it.

"C'mon we're at your place already, quit daydreaming and open the door." Miroku said glancing over at his friend's old scratched up house, one window was cracked, and trash littered the street in front of the weeded front yard. A year ago Miroku would've been surprised to see that such a rat hole was habitable, but time changes everything.

Inu Yasha dug his hand into his pockets, and finally presented a jangle of keys and shoved one inside the keyhole, turned the knob and stepped right in to his home.

"Hey, I'm home" Inu Yasha yelled through the doorway just before taking off his shoes, as Miroku followed suit, carefully laying his shoes down in the hallway where many pictures were tacked to the wall.

The pictures of the once happy family were now memories of the past. Inu Yasha's once lively face and curious eyes had turned hard and tough. His older brother wasn't any different either, he almost never smiled now, and his expression had become distant and indifferent.

But something else caught his eye, actually someone else. When he saw the raven hair and lithe body on the couch, he immediately recognized who that person was.

This was not going to be good.

"C'mon, what are you staring at?" Inu Yasha rudely pushed past his friend and stalked into the living room, what he saw next stopped him speechless.

There was no mistaking it; she was the same person who humiliated him earlier today.

"Ka, Kagome?" Inu Yasha exclaimed in disbelief.


	3. Guest

"What the hell are you doing here?" Inu Yasha asked, failing to keep the shock from his voice. It wasn't everyday he found a girl lying half naked on his couch.

"This is your house?" Kagome replied, equally shocked, now she had to jump in a mud hole. (Refer to chapter one.)

"I see that you two know each other?" Sesshomaru noted amusingly, his voice curious and reprimanding at the same time. His tone hinted at a beating if Inu Yasha didn't watch his tongue.

"No, we've never met." Inu Yasha quickly replied through clenched teeth, obviously very angry at the unexpected guest and at his brother. At least he held back on the swearing.

His eye's wandered to the bloodied tissues in the garbage can, and riveted back to the girl.

She was injured, although he didn't know why, or how, he guessed she pissed another guy off, and he was apparently was less merciful than him.

He walked up to where she was lying and asked in a softer voice "you…ok?" He felt guilty for what he did earlier.

Kagome, however, didn't respond, it was Sesshomaru who did.

"She's fine Inu Yasha, now go somewhere else." He said without glancing at him.

"Can you sit?" Sesshomaru continued, locking eyes with Kagome. When she nodded, he helped her sit up, and preceded to bandage her wound, the chance of a scar was rare, but the girl was lucky to escape with her life.

Inu Yasha hated to be ignored and it was Miroku who held him back when he was about to explode. His friend grabbed him by the collar and started hauling him up the stairs.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Inu Yasha protested as he was dragged to his room.

"Shut up, we'll talk there" Whispered Miroku.

Both of them left the scene in a matter of seconds.

"Done," Sesshomaru said as he finished tying the knot.

"Um, thank you" Kagome said awkwardly, she tried to stand up only to slump back onto the comfort of the couch. The excruciating pain in her back almost made her faint again.

"You shouldn't move too much," Sesshomaru said as he stood up and went into the kitchen.

He returned a few minutes later, holding a glass of water and some pills in his hands.

"Take this, it'll ease the pain." He said, gently handing the cup and pills to her. However, she was too weak to sit up again, so Sesshomaru propped her up against him, and using his other arm for support, fed her the medication, but when he held the water up to her lips, she took the cup from him. She didn't want to be babied, even though she felt like crying for her mother. When she was done with the water, he took the cup back and placed it on the coffee table.

She was going to thank him again when he stood up and reached for his cell phone.

"Can you call home?" He asked, handing it to her.

"Well, we just moved and we didn't set up a phone line yet." Kagome said hesitantly, she didn't really feel comfortable talking about her new place.

"Well, it's getting late, and like I said, you shouldn't be moving too much in your condition, might I suggest you stay here tonight?" Sesshomaru decided after a bit of thinking, there was no place else she could go.

"But I-" She started, but he silenced her with a finger on her mouth.

"You will stay here tonight, do you understand?" He commanded, staring deep into her eyes.

Kagome only nodded in response.

"Since the bedroom to the left is off limits, you may stay in Inu Yasha's room for the night." He said smiling wickedly.

* * *

Meanwhile…

"What'd you drag me up here for Miroku?" Yelled a very angry Inu Yasha,

"Shhh, don't talk so loud, they might hear us." Miroku whispered before glancing around.

"Ok, fine, what did you want to say?" Inu Yasha said impatiently crossing his arms around his chest.

Looking around as if there were possible eavesdroppers, Miroku beckoned Inu Yasha to come closer.

Inu Yasha scooted a little closer to him.

"Don't you..." Miroku said slowly.

"Don't I…," repeated Inu Yasha,

"Don't you think your brother is acting a little weird?" Miroku finally finished.

"Is that it?" Inu Yasha said a little annoyed. "You dragged me all the way up here just to ask that?"

"But isn't it true though? For one thing, your brother wouldn't even bat an eyelash when killing a man, so why would he even help a girl and treat her wounds too?" Miroku said thoughtfully looking at his friend.

Inu Yasha, however, didn't really give a monkey's ass about his brother's "strange" behavior.

"Who cares, he probably just wanted to test his doctorial skills out on the bitch." Inu Yasha said plopping himself onto the bed

"Say, what do you have against her? She seems like a nice girl." Miroku said, his previous suspicions flying from his mind.

Inu Yasha, knowing what his best friend obviously meant by 'nice', snickered.

"You'd go for anything breathing, besides what do you see in her anyway? That wench's no better than Kikyo."

"Who's a wench?" Kagome yelled, startling both Inu Yasha and Miroku. She came into the room with Sesshomaru carrying her.

Both Miroku and Inu Yasha's mouths dropped open at the sight.

"Inu Yasha, get off the bed, Miroku, you get out too, our guest will be sleeping here tonight." Sesshomaru said ignoring their faces.

He felt more than embarrassed carrying a girl in his arms.

"What the hell?" Inu Yasha asked, already recovering from the shock, "Why does she have to sleep here? Can't she just go home?"

"It's late and her injury prevents her from moving too much, it will only be for one night. Do you object?" Sesshomaru said narrowing his eyes.

"Why does it have to be my room? How about dads or yours-" Inu Yasha argued desperately.

"That's alright; I can just go home right now, I'm sure I'll be ok." Kagome interrupted, she tried to move again but she was held too firmly by Sesshomaru.

"You see, she said she's fine, I'm sure if you hurry she can still catch the last bus…" Inu Yasha nearly sighed with relief, as Kagome almost gagged at his "considerate" suggestion.

"No, you will be staying here; Inu Yasha on the other hand, will be leaving." Sesshomaru glared dangerously at him, and Inu Yasha didn't need to be a mind reader to know the threat that followed thoses words.

But our rebellious Inu Yasha returned the glare, however, after a few minutes of unbroken eye contact, he turned away, his eyes had begun to water, and as much as he hated losing at anything, he just couldn't beat Sesshomaru in a staring contest.

"Fine, I'll go, and she can have the damn room!" Inu Yasha yelled, stomping out through door in resentment and indignation with Miroku following behind silently.

Inu Yasha practically tore down the stairs and into living room, with Miroku tumbling shortly behind him.

Catching his breath, Miroku looked up at Inu Yasha and grinned.

"What are you smiling about?" Inu Yasha snapped. He knew it was none of Miroku's fault that he had just been evicted from his room but he was too pissed to care.

"Look on the bright side, at least now you'll have a chance to extract your revenge." Miroku offered, standing up and straightening his hair.

And then, a slow smile crept over Inu Yasha's face…

And somewhere upstairs, Kagome shivered, she couldn't help but feel a chill of premonition.

"Are you alright?" Sesshomaru asked, noticing her tremble, he laid her carefully down onto the bed.

"No, I mean yes, I'm just a bit cold" She said stuttering.

"I see..." In one swift motion he closed the window next to the drawer.

"Is that better?" He asked, turning around to face her.

"Yes, thank you," Kagome said staring up at his face again; she couldn't get over the fact that he was so…good looking.

He picked up a blanket from the foot of the bed, and after a quick look at the mangled mess, muttered a few things about incompetent morons, took out a clean one from another drawer, and covered Kagome up from shoulder to toe with it.

"If you need anything I'll just be in the room next door, and there are also two idiots to your service downstairs as well." Sesshomaru finished, handing her the remote control. "And if you get bored, there's the television, I'll be back a little later to check up on you…Kagome."

She had been listening to all this gratefully until he said her name. She looked up surprised. How did he know? She didn't remember telling him her name, nor him asking her for it.

Like he read her thoughts, he finally smiled, whispered "It's a secret," and left the room before she could question him any further.

A very confused Kagome slowly sat up and leaned her back against the bed frame, it was quite comfy.

Maybe she could ask him about It later…she thought as she turned on the TV.


	4. Goodnight

"So, what are you planning?" Miroku asked, eyeing his friend.

"I don't know. She's already hurt so I shouldn't play too rough with her."

"Whatever you say man, but I have go home, my uncle is going to kill me." Miroku said glancing at the old grandfather clock behind Inu Yasha.

The phone suddenly rang, and Miroku picked up the cordless phone. After a brief exchange of words, he handed the phone to Inu Yasha, with a strange look on his face.

"Hello?" Inu Yasha nearly barked out.

"It's me." A sharp and seductive voice replied.

"Kikyo…" He stuttered, she hadn't called him for ages, and the last time she did call was when she had cancelled a date with him for 'family reasons'.

"What do you want?" He said, quickly changing his tone, and at the other end of the line, he heard a growl, different from her cousins and friends. She told him to wait a moment and he heard some shuffling noises on the other side, apparently, she had covered the receiver.

He heard gigging before the phone was uncovered.

"Oh, um, Inu Yasha, you know how much I care about you and all, but I have to tell you something." The voice in the background faded and all he could hear was Kikyo, but what was she getting at?

Meanwhile, Miroku was debating with himself whether or not to sneak into the kitchen to listen in.

"Hey Inu, gonna be off for a sec." Miroku said, striding into the dining area.

Inu Yasha barely noticed his friend walk by him.

"Well, I've been thinking a lot lately and It's…well it's not you but it's me, I think we should start seeing other people." She quickly finished, releasing a breath of air; this was easier than she had thought it would be.

"Kikyo, I- don't understand, why would you-" He was confused, why so suddenly?

"Look, its not you, it's me, ok? I just don't want a serious relationship, that's all, no hard feelings, alright? I've got to go now, see you around." She said rather rushed.

"No, don't hang up!" He yelled desperately into the phone.

**Click**

He redialed her number but no one picked up, he tried again, and again, for several more times before throwing the phone across the room, nearly panting with anger.

Right on cue, Miroku came into the living room, eyeing Inu Yasha pitifully; he had heard everything, but was surprised that Inu Yasha apparently cared so much for Kikyo when he usually seemed so indifferent.

He was just about to say something when he heard someone else coming down the stairs.

"What's with all the commotion?" It was Sesshomaru, he had came out of his room when he heard the noise downstairs, at first he thought that the two delinquents were playing a video game, but Inu Yasha never got to the point of breaking the sound barrier because of an alien destroying a spaceship.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the new Sony cordless phone lying beside the pale pink wall. He walked over to the spot and kneeled down, examining the damage with his fingers and eyes. There would be a dent here and there, and the phone was broken, he concluded as he picked the remains up, thus, another object to add to the pile of things his brother had broken in the past year.

"Next time you decide to break something, try something that's yours, this was the phone to replace the last one you broke. What made you to perform something so stupid?" He demanded, walking up to Inu Yasha, who seemed to be shivering. Sesshomaru finally noticed his brother clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Hey-" He slowly began, his voice less harsh, and gently laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Inu Yasha yelled, slapping his brother's hand away, he repulsed at the touch, he hated him, hated him and the whole damn world with an empty burn.

"What's wrong?" Sesshomaru tentatively asked, eyeing his brother strangely, something bad had happened; the only other time he was like this was when their parents had died…

"You don't even care, do you? All that's important to you is your stupid studies and your work, its all your fault that dad died and you know it, it's all entire fault!" Inu Yasha harshly hollered into his brother's face. Inu Yasha had been holding this in since the day of his father's funeral, hating, revolting, and disgusted at the mere presence of his brother, and everything that had to do with him.

Silence, all the streetcars stopped honking and beeping, the homeless and the poor stopped whimpering from hunger, and violence, and even the guard-dog's outside seemed to stop barking.

That was when Sesshomaru lashed out; his fist slamming into his brother's face, knocking him against the wall where Inu Yasha had threw the phone. Sesshomaru towered over his slumped body for a second before walking back up and stairs and slamming the door to his room shut.

Inu Yasha lay sprawled against the wall, head bowed and breathing in deeply. Miroku, a shaky bystander to the incident, slowly approached his fallen friend and offered his hand.

Just as slowly, Inu Yasha raised his head to meet Miroku's concerned eyes, but he didn't need the help, didn't want it, he just wanted to be alone, and so he needed to leave. He brushed off the hand and steadily stood up with the wall as his only support, and staggered out the door. He too, slammed it shut on his way out.

Miroku only stared at the closed door, his hand still lingering in the empty air where his best friend had been.

* * *

Kagome stood shocked at what she had seen in that last few moments. She had heard yelling and loud noises downstairs, so she poked her head out the door to investigate, even though Sesshomaru had told her to rest. And what she saw was pure horror, Inu Yasha had yelled something at his brother, and Sesshomaru just slugged him in return. She could not have put it in simpler words. 

She had suspected that Sesshomaru was strong, but not how easily angered he could get. She stared awe struck as Inu Yasha crashed into the wall and slid down limply. It was then that she heard the thumping coming up the stairs; Sesshomaru was coming back up. She quickly closed the door and waited for him to pass by her room, when the coast was clear; she opened her door again and looked back out.

Miroku was now beside Inu Yasha, and offered his hand, which to Kagome's surprise; Inu Yasha gave no heed to, stood up on his own, and walked out of the house.

Only Miroku stayed where he was looking at the door with his still outstretched hand. Amidst her shock, she realized that she should not have been peeking into any of this; so she abruptly pulled her body back inside her room, but accidentally bumped into the desk near the entrance.

"Ouch," She almost cursed; but once more, she heard someone coming up the stairs, and it could only be Miroku… She quickly closed the door, careful reached the bed, and hastily went beneath the covers, feigning sleep.

She closed her eyes just as Miroku opened the door. He stood at the doorway for a moment, and Kagome felt his eyes trained on her face. She didn't dare move a muscle as he walked towards the bed where she 'slept' and sat next to her on the bed.

"You saw everything, right?" Miroku asked, twirling a strand of her hair around his fingers.

She tried to ignore him, but then his other hand wandered somewhere else.

"Lecher," She sat up quickly slapping him, but in the process, the sharp pain she felt in her back reminded her that she was still injured.

"Easy there, I was just checking to see if you were really asleep." He said winking at her and helping her sit up against the bed planks.

"I didn't mean to overhear, I just came out to see what was going on..." She said apologetically, she felt strangely guilty for seeing everything down there.

"I know, I know but listen to me, please." Said Miroku clasping onto her hands, and she lifted her face up to meet his.

With a sad smile, Miroku continued. "Please, don't ever mention what you saw to anyone." He pleaded, staring into her eyes.

"But he hit him! That's child abuse, you know, even though Inu Yasha isn't much of a child anymore, but he didn't deserve to be treated like that!" Tears seeped from eyes, she understood how it felt to be neglected, misunderstood, and it must have been how Inu Yasha was feeling.

However, Miroku's suddenly cold voice broke through her sobs. "It's not your place to say, leave here tomorrow and never let out a word about what happened tonight, or else..." He ended, once more twirling her hair in his fingers.

For a minute, that was all he did, play with her hair. But almost as an afterthought, his hands left her hair and gently held her face, as he slowly brought his mouth to her trembling body and whispered, "You wouldn't want to get hurt again, would you?" and inhaled a whiff of her sweet scent. He leg go of her then, and getting up from the bed, sauntered to the door and held the knob. He watched the motionless Kagome for a few more seconds before he blew her a kiss, "Good night."

He closed the door, and walked over to Sesshomaru's room; he stood there for a moment, gathering his courage, should he knock?

"Come in" Replied a steely voice as soon as Miroku placed his hand on the doorknob.

He hesitated before entering. The lights in the room were turned off so he couldn't really see anything; the only source of light was the moon streaming in though the glass window. Sesshomaru himself sat in a large black lounge chair facing the interior of his room. Miroku could barely make out the silver head hovering above the large chair.

Miroku opened his mouth, "Inu Yasha, he-"

"He left, I know, so follow him. I think I know where he's heading to." Sesshomaru said, turning around to face a very solemn Miroku.


	5. The chase is on

She could not sleep, so she lay in bed, nerves strung and body ridged. Hugging her arms carefully to herself, Kagome wished she could simply close her eyelids, and forget about what happened during the last few hours. She also tried to convince herself, albeit unsuccessfully, that Miroku was just joking when he threatened her with that deadly no-nonsense smile... Her fingers reached for the lock of hair Miroku twirled, and she shivered, unfamiliar with this side of him. True, she didn't know him too well, but, um, maybe she just shouldn't even judge people by their appearances. Still, she could not help but wonder if he meant what he said.

Her mind drifted back to the injured boy who left the house. Where could he have gone to? Would he be all right? Was he hurt? Of course, he was already hurt when he stumbled out the door. What could have caused him to blow up in the first place? (Kagome only came outside after the phone call.)

Oh well, he was probably having a tantrum because some girl turned him down, or maybe Sesshomaru usually smacked his brother around in the middle of the night. That was probably it, and besides, the jerk deserved whatever he got…However, a little voice in the back of her head argued 'he did look pretty beat up when he left the house, and violence never solved anything anyway'. Well, that punch to the head sure solved his pig headedness, so Kagome hoped he learned some manners too. 'He wasn't that bad; he didn't hurt you, did he? And he let you sleep in his room.' The annoying voice droned on… "Oh, just shut up." Kagome scolded, and the voice obediently scurried away. "I'll think about this tomorrow," She mumbled as she shifted her position to the side and dozed off.

The hallway on the second floor doesn't creak as much as it used to, because the rug was installed last year. So, it was absolutely silent as footsteps slowly padded towards Kagome's room. As he slowly turned the doorknob and quietly stepped inside the dark room, her even breaths told him she was asleep. He ventured another foot into the room, but a sudden movement from her still body kept him at bay, so he halted and waited, watching her from the doorway with cold, unblinking eyes.

"Soon," he whispered.

Meanwhile:

"Hey, that guy looks totaled, what say we go talk to him, eh?" The man in the grey checkered-shirt grumbled in a low voice.

"Iono, the dude looks like Sesshomaru with that hair color; matter of fact, could be him." The man opposite of him whispered.

"Ha, do you really think **The** Sesshomaru would be bumbling around in the middle of the night? And besides, Sesshomaru never limps, can't even get hurt, the bastard fights like a demon. I've seen it with my own eyes, and it wasn't pretty sight. Was as if he was possessed or something," the man paused for a few seconds, "horrible night it was, the amount of blood over the lot would've made you sick. That little shrimp over there couldn't be him."

"Well, if you say so…," said the other man hesitantly.

The two quietly stalked the unidentified figure up until the next street when suddenly; one of the men grabbed the other by the shoulders and dragged them behind a dumpster.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" The other one grumbled.

"Shhh, quiet, I think he stopped." They both poked their heads out from behind the dumpster, and indeed the stranger had stopped.

"I know you're there." The Sesshomaru look-alike drawled out.

"Shit, what do we do?"

"What else can we do, might as well reveal ourselves," said checkered- shirt.

The other man gave a terrified squeak.

"Besides, there's only one of him and two of us, nothing to be scared of, you big chicken."

So they jumped out from behind the dumpsters.

"Might as well cut the crap since you seem to know what we're after, so be a good boy and empty your pockets and you won't get hurt." Grey-checkered shirt guy said, whilst his partner nodded his head in agreement.

But the look-alike didn't empty his pockets or seem to hear him at all. 'A wise guy, eh, well the more fun when I get to mess him up.' Just as the thought passed his mind, the man with the silver hair slowly turned around.

'Heh, guess he won't need no persuading.' "Well? Empty your pockets!" The man said, flicking out his blade.

"Oh, but they are empty." The strange look-alike dawdled, as he made a motion to demonstrate such.

"I don't care, we're leaving with something tonight, or you'll be dead meat." The checkered-shirt man said. Signaling his partner, they both closed in on the look-alike.

None of them saw the gleam in his eyes, or the grin that curved his lips as he flicked out his own blade.

'Now where did that idiot go?' He couldn't have gotten far in fifteen minutes, what with no car and no money…, he checked. He had a good idea of where Inu Yasha was heading to, but he had no idea where Kikyo lived, much less what her house looked like All he knew was that it was a good enough distance away to be taking the bus.

His thoughts lingered back into the living room with Sesshomaru and Inu Yasha, and he understood. It was just one lost too many for Inu Yasha, both brothers had suffered, while Inu Yasha was brash and open about his feelings, Sesshomaru was quiet and reserved, all emotions locked down and under control. Each brother blamed the other, but if nothing else, they still had each other. And now, with Kikyo out of the picture, Inu Yasha had fallen downhill and plummeted off a cliff.

"God, he's so hotheaded!" Miroku sighed and wiped his forehead. Randomly running around didn't seem to help at all, so he stopped to catch his breath for a moment. He leaned his back against the fence of a parking lot, and when his breath slowed, he took comfort in the silvery moon. While he gazed absentmindedly at the round orb, he vaguely remembered a time when his father and he used to watch it together on fogless nights. Of course, that was before he died…

He shoved his hands in his pockets, pushed himself off the fence, shook those lingering memories away, and continued on in a hurried rush to find Inu before anything happened to him. Well, in this case, if Inu Yasha 'happened' to find Kikyo first…Miroku shivered at the thought and nearly broke out into a run, only to trip over something very hard on the floor.

"Who the hell threw the fucking sofa out again?" He got to his feet cursing and was about to carry on when he noticed that the cushion was breathing!

He gasped, and bolted down to examine the phenomenon, fame and fortune flashed before his very mind…

Just to discover that it was only a badly injured human being, and Miroku's hopes instantly deflated, quickly replaced by annoyance and resentment, 'nothing good ever happens to me'.

As he examined the body, he concluded that the person had a fractured kneecap, at least two broken ribs along with a dislocated shoulder blade and an open wound to the stomach. He also speculated internal bleeding and a few other unpleasant boo-boos. In other words, this guy didn't look too good.

Yet the way the blade was twisted just below the abdomen reminded him of Inu Yasha's own "style" of gutting his enemies.

Miroku took the man's pulse and was relieved to discover that he was alive, but a few feet away from this man lay another body. However familiar Miroku was with injuries, he still cringed slightly at gore, but he had a responsibility, a responsibility to clean up after his best friends' mess. He sighed again, stood up, and hesitantly stepped over the first man to inspect the second. And he was relieved, the second victim had similar injuries on him, if not more serious.

He ran to the payphone across the street, disguised his voice, and reported the results of a violent, drunken brawl between two men, and hung up. Now that help was on the way…

He had better hurry before Inu Yasha did something stupid again.

Abandoning all dignity, he sprinted down the street following the small trickle of blood that would hopefully; lead him to his…friend.

Inu Yasha panted as he ran the rest of the way to Kikyo's house with only one thought occupying his mind; get to her. But, except for the throbbing pain in his left arm, he felt wonderful, and strangely rejuvenated.

He skidded to a halt as he arrived at her home, a large two story with lacey curtains behind the windows, and a chimney. Which way should he enter? He looked up and saw that her bedroom light was lit, so she was home. He headed towards the back entrance, which was in the backyard. He easily climbed and jumped over the fence without waking the neighbors and took the key under the welcome mat. Predicable, that is what she was, Heh.

He climbed the squeaky stairs without caring whether or not anyone heard. It didn't matter now, he'll finally get to see Kikyo and she'll laugh at him for falling for that stupid, little joke and everything would be fine again. He didn't bother knocking on the door; surely she was expecting him with a devious smile and laughing eyes. So he felt relieved when he heard her giggles from the door, but…there was another voice, much deeper and hoarser. Inu Yasha pushed open the barrier between him and Kikyo and was shocked.

The two figures on the bed stared back at him in surprise. However, Kikyo still had the dignity to cover up her swollen breasts with the blanket, while her partner continued to gape open-mouthed at the unlikely guest. But, after a moment or two, he too regained his composure and stood up.

"What are you doing here dog turd?" The other man said reaching for his undergarments.

It took a few seconds for Inu Yasha to register the words, and he growled, but he still had his eyes on Kikyo. His mouth opened and closed several times before his trembling voice was heard, "Is this who replaced me?"

Kikyo didn't return the gaze as she wrapped the blanket around herself. "Who else could it be? Oh come on, don't look so shocked, we all knew this would happen some day, it was only a matter of time..."

"But, why, what do you mean?"

"Look just forget it, ok?" I got tired of you so now, I have him." She jerked her finger at the underwear clad boy.

"Oh, and I forgot the introductions, this is Koga, and this is Inu Yasha, my _old_ boyfriend." She emphasized harshly.

"Humph, we already know each other, so don't waste your breath. But Kikyo, one thing I don't understand is what you see in this freak here." Koga said warily eyeing the dirty and slightly ruffled Inu Yasha.

"Yea, a big mistake I made, so Inu, now that you have your question answered, hurry up and go so Koga and I can get back to business," She said smiling sweetly at him.

However, several seconds passed without a response.

"Inu Yasha? Just go home, ok? You're bleeding on my carpet." But Kikyo glanced uncertainly at the white haired youth who had his face hidden and shoulders shaking.

"Aw, C'mon Inu Yasha, don't cry, I didn't hurt your feelings that much, did I? And here I thought you were made of tougher stuff." A harsh laugh scraped by her throat.

"Hey, leave already, the lady chose me so that just makes you the third wheel, so be a smart puppy and get out of here." Koga sneered, "Otherwise I'll have to dirty my hands and kick you out personally."

But Inu Yasha remained motionless.

So Koga walked up to Inu Yasha and clasped him by the shoulders, "I'll be a moment, going to take out the trash first." Koga was about to push him out the door when Inu Yasha grabbed his arm and twisted. "Get your hands off me."

Koga winced, "Since when have you come back to life? You've been a fucking vegetable this whole time, so I was just helping you out. Koga tried to wrench his arm free from the other's grasp, but Inu Yasha's hands wouldn't budge.

Inu Yasha only squeezed harder, bruising Koga's poor wrist even more. Before Koga could utter another word, he was on the floor with Inu Yasha lashing out at him.

In blind rage, Inu Yasha repeatedly punched Koga in the face. He faintly felt his knuckles connecting with flesh and bones, and he saw nothing but red. He didn't bother listening to the nagging voice at the back of his head, his resolve to wipe this man's presence off the face of the earth made everything else insignificant. He didn't hear the cries that came from Kikyo, and he didn't feel someone tugging his arms.

"Inu Yasha, let go of him!"

"Oh my god, you're going to kill him!"

However, someone saved Koga and whacked Inu Yasha over the head with a flower vase; Inu Yasha reasonably stopped and slumped over seeing stars and rainbows.

What happened next, or how he got outside was completely lost to him. He was only vaguely aware that he was outside when he felt the cold wind whipping his face. But Inu Yasha was never aware that the wind would hurt so much. But the sting in his cheeks somehow gave him the feeling that it wasn't the wind at all. He felt his body being dragged and felt almost grateful for the treatment; he was too tired to even stand by himself. So, Inu Yasha tried to thank the kindly elephant, but his tongue wasn't working properly so all that came out of his mouth was a jumble of noise. But after a few seconds later though, he realized that, unfortunately, his ears were working.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? Course I knew you were stupid, but this, this goes beyond the limit of stupidity!" A familiar voice screamed into Inu Yasha's poor eardrums.

However, something finally clicked and Inu Yasha found his tongue again, "Who're you calling stupid, you're the one with the stupid, long nose here" He instantly regretted speaking; it only hurt his head.

"What the hell are you talking about? Are you still dreaming? I'm talking to you, idiot! What were you thinking, marching up to Kikyo's house and beating that Koga guy up? Do you know how much trouble you're going to be in? You might even face a lawsuit. But, lucky you, I came along just in time before you killed that stupid bastard" Miroku finally stopped though; he realized that Inu Yasha had fallen asleep.

"Of all the idiotic..., c'mon Inu, get up," But his plea was to no avail, Inu Yasha was sleeping like the dead. So, an irritated Miroku none too gently grabbed his friend by the arms and hoisted his limp body onto his back. Miroku grunted, "Heavy…"

And thus, the kind Miroku struggled on home, all while quietly cursing his unconscious friend.


End file.
